Monday, 10 March 2014

All Aboard The Clipboard.

When letting agents inspect rented homes (which they do - quite a lot) they are known to arrive with a clipboard, laptop, tablet or even an old-school documentation facilitation device (ie a paper notebook and a pen.)

Next, they tetchily peruse the rented property by lifting up carpets, opening cupboards, peering under beds, even - in extremes - rifling through drawers. With practiced disdain they record what they see. If they don't see faults, they are openly disappointed, although it’s the state of the place when tenants leave that matters, even if it's a pigsty there and then.

I've often wondered what would happen if prospective renters pulled the same stunt during their first look. What if potential new occupants viewed a property with a stern, inquiring air, then showily noted all the problems, before asserting: '...I would move in, but I'm going to need that heater mending,' (after insisting the central heating is switched on so they can check.)

Or 'You will - of course - be removing those old, half-empty tins of paint from the one cupboard, I assume?'

Or 'I'd like you to draught-proof the front-door and letterbox.'

All perfectly reasonable requests.

In London, which is unique (a different planet, not just a different country where housing is concerned) this would have an instantaneous and disastrous impact. The viewing would end. All hope would be lost, since renters must be permanently prostrate with gratitude for so much as the chance to bid in an overheated renting auction.

But elsewhere...it might help.

Tenants could thoroughly quiz the agent. Questions might be extremely intrusive; as intrusive, in fact as those posed by the agents as part of the moving in process: 'Do you plan to marry or have children?' apart from all the usual credit reference assurances. They would point out that the carpet needs replacing, or that the bath is chipped (so that the agent can't then try to claim the cost of an entire new bath from the tenants, as happened to me once.)

Incoming renters could insist the property is properly cleaned before they sign any agreements, then both parties could liaise on the inventory to the satisfaction of both. Tenants currently view rambling shared houses and dark, dusty flats during a resentful, obfuscatory, whistle-stop tour. They could well point out snags, only to be stonewalled by an agent amazed at such effrontery, such as when the stench of damp and visible water stains indicated a torrential leak from the flat above. The agent denied it. The vast, spreading plantation of mushrooms suggested otherwise.

Certain nay-sayers around these parts post comments saying: 'Why did you move in, if it's so terrible?' whenever I write about shoddy properties. They don't realise how hard it is to notice, let alone raise concerns when being hastily frog-marched round a flat with a strident agent in denial, who subsequently refuses to acknowledge problems, and then encourages owners to issue retaliatory notice when the tenant demands that catastrophic flaws are rectified.

But if that gaping hole in the bathroom floor had been ostentatiously recorded on a clipboard...Okay. I give in. The tenant still wouldn’t get the tenancy would they? They would be decreed ‘awkward.’ Still, it’s a lovely thought.

26 comments:

What is funny about mine is that the inventory includes a phone left in a cupboard.

This appears to have been left by a previous tenant and, I have no doubt, doesn't work (I haven't tried to be honest) but I can't dispose of it because if I do I might be charged for it if it is missing when I move out.

Excellent post. (can't help wondering what nuggets of advice your more loyal idiots might suggest for this one.) I've always wanted to arrange a host of pointless viewings with agents, just for this reasonho. But I have a life..

I did once have an agent in London show us round a flat with bird shit in the living room. When I asked, I was informed that the last tenants kept an owl on the door (I'm not making this shit up). And still they showed it to us in that condition... No shame. None. They could not give a ----.

Anon above is one of the usuals. Blame the tenant for moving in - even when they might have been force-marched around. Or when they assume RIGHTLY that the crap will be cleared up. Oh, the things I have seen...

Anon1Actually, there's more than a good dollop of sense in this post. Tenants should 'push back' on the agent/LL questioning.

Ok so the agent/LL has good reason for trying to find out something about a potential tenant you will, after all, be entering something of a partnership, and it is only sensible to try and get to know who the other party is.

But the same token, a tenant should try to (and be able to) find out about the agent/LL.

This also extends to issues with the property. It is not acceptable for properties to be in a terrible state.

A word of warning though, a rental property should be in good condition (clean, safe and comparable to other housing of a similar type), that doesn't mean it should be a showroom. Old Victorian houses are not as well insulated (despite upgrades) as modern houses, stone cottages will have damp issues and if a building does not have a gas connection you cannot have gas central heating, no matter how much cheaper it is.

Aside from that, push back hard, demand good accommodation. It's a pity that people are still having to put up with poor accommodation, maybe if crap LL's can be made to work so hard they exit the sector it would be better all round.

Look: where property of affordable price is scarce (ie nearly everywhere) and people are bottom of the pecking order ie on low/no pay or insecure jobs, they will have to take places like that. And will be turned down if they object to ..crap in the lounge.

Here's the thing: in many places, tenants have not choice, and must grovel to be housed, so to insist upon anything will lose them the home. And there isn't another one they can afford - the myth of choice.

As a Landlord myself, I do find agents in my employ are fanatical about the smallest detail in their inventories. I actually find it a little tiresome. When I used to deal with tenants direct, when they had gone, you meet them there, have a walk about and see what condition it is in and go from there. Much more casual.

As for tenants making demands before they move in, I dunno about London as you describe, but here in Manchester potential tenants do stroll about demanding new laminate floors, extra loft insulation and all manner of things.

Thankfully, the market is buoyant enough that the overly fastidious can simply be refused.

So: it's 'overly fastidious' to request reasonable adjustments like loft insulation - which rentiers like you can get a grant to put in? You are evrything that's wrong with the PRS - easing out tenants who will stand up for what is rightfully theirs.

About Me

I write about everything to do with renting and the buildings tenants live in. Thirty percent of the UK population live in rented accomodation. There are roughly one million landlords in the UK.
We didn't all make it onto to the property ladder. We don't all have a dream home. We move from rented flat to rented flat, dealing with lazy landlords, and neighbours, good and bad. We endure the tribulations of newbuild housing complexes, and the insecurity of never knowing how long you can stay in one place, or indeed, if you want to.
I used to live in Dovecot Towers (so called because it's built stacked up like a dovecot. 'Nice Heights', was great, but I've moved again. I am currently on a sort of research tour.
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